Gen. 1. hee did not make you to destroy you for he is the Sauiour of all men 1. Tim. 2. and desires not the death of a sinner but that hee turne and liue Wherefore I pronounce vnto you in the name of God Mat. 9. Marc. 2. that by his great goodnesse and mercy hee hath giuen you a pardon and full remission of all your sinnes Luc. 5. Titus 3. through the onely merite of his sonne IESVS CHRIST our Lord in the shedding of his most precious bloud Tim. 1. Act. 4. Reuel 1. 1. Iohn 2. for hee is the propitiation not onely for your sinnes but for the sinnes of the whole world Mat. 17. B. S. N. Iesus Christ saith with his owne mouth that all things are possible to him that beleeueth Beleeue then without doubting at all Rom. 1. Phil. 2. 1. Pet. 1. that Iesus Christ putting on our flesh made himselfe perfect man whereby hee died for you hauing borne all your sinnes in his bodie to abolish and blot them out Present vnto God the precious death of his Sonne Iesus Christ and by the merite of that death and passion aske him forgiuenesse and mercie saying from the bottome of your heart in all humilitie and repentance LOrd God Almightie be mercifull to mee poore miserable sinner for the loue of thy Sonne IESVS CHRIST my Lord and Sauiour Rom. 3. Iohn 14. and through the merite of his death and passion that it may please thee to receiue my soule Mat. 26. the which I recommend into thy hands B. S. N. Put your firme confidence in God for seeing hee is with you Rom. 8. no man will bee against you Iesus Christ who is the imaculate Lambe hath ouercome all for you Isa 61. Heb. 7.8.9 hee hath offered himselfe once for you and by that onely oblation hath quite done away all your sinnes he hath done away your folly vnrighteousnesse abhomination and obligation with this good Lord IESVS CHRIST God the Father hath giuen you all things B. S. N. Strengthen your selfe in IESVS CHRIST Rom. 8. who calleth and inuiteth you by his Prophets Apostles and Euangelists to addresse your selfe directly vnto him saying All that are thirstie Isa 55. Mat. 11. come to the great fountaine Isa 55. Mat. 11. Come to me all yee that are heauy laden and I will refresh you B. S. N. Beleeue stedfastly that IESVS CHRIST hath discharged you of all your sinnes 1. Iohn 5. and hath reconciled you to God his Father vnto whom in all humility and repentance say from the bottome of your heart Rom. 3. Iohn 14. LOrd God Almighty be mercifull vnto mee poore miserable sinner for the loue of thy Sonne IESVS CHRIST my Lord and Sauiour and by the merit of his death and passion Mat. 26. Psa 30. that it would please thee to receiue my soule the which I commend into thy hands B.S.N. Bee in hope for for a certayne hee will receiue your soule as his owne for the loue of Iesus Christ his Sonne our Lord Marke 16. Deut. 18. Psal 2. Isa 53. Genes 3. 22. Mat. 9. who is the Sauiour and Redeemer of all those that beleeue in him Moyses and all the Prophets haue testified that all people shall receiue saluation and blessing through Iesus Christ The Apostles and Euangelists testifie that Iesus Christ is not come to call the iust Iohn 10. Luke 22. but sinners to repentance and to giue his soule for the redemption of many for hee hath shedde his bloud for the remission of sinnes Beleeue then and doubt not at all for IESVS CHRIST hath made the purgation of all your sinnes Heb. 1. hauing promised that all those that beleeue in him and in his Father that sent him shall haue eternall life Iohn 5. and shall not come to iudgement but shall passe from death to life Got to then B. S. N. Take courage in Iesus Christ for hee hath loued you Isa 53. Reuel 1. and washed you from all your sinnes in his bloud Rom. 5. haue this firme faith to fight valiantly against the aduersarie haue no other buckler to defend you but that precious bloud of Iesus Christ who by vertue of his death and passion hath reconciled you to God his Father vnto whom from the bottome of your heart in all humilitie and repentance present this prayer LOrd God Almighty be mercifull vnto mee poore miserable sinner Rom. 3. Iohn 14. for the loue of thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Sauiour and by the merit of his death and passion that it may please thee to receiue my soule the which I recommend into thy hands Math. 26. Psal 30. B. S. N. Haue this hope and stedfast saith that this good God full of mercy will receiue your soule as his into his handes for the loue of his Sonne Iesus Christ Iohn 10. Act. 4. for there is no other name vnder Heauen giuen to men whereby wee must be saued and there is no saluation in any other but in IESVS CHRIST Then arme your selfe well with Iesus Christ For hee hath done all for you he hath accomplished the law for you Rom. 8. Rom. 10. he hath ouercome all for you Go to then B. S. N. Reioyce in God be alwaies stedfast in this liuely saith follow and imitate the holy Patriarkes Heb. 11. Prophets and Apostles who are all saued in this faith who do all assure you that the aduersarie cannot in any wise hurt you for your cause is gotten through IESVS CHRIST Iohn 5. 1. Iohn 2. who is your Iudge and your aduocate likewise wherefore say alwaies in this firme faith Although I should walke in the middest of the shadow of death yet would I dread none euill Psal 22. for thou Lord God art with mee B. S. N. Also bee neuer wearie with saying from the bottome of your heart in all humilitie and repentance LORD God Almightie bee mercifull vnto mee poore miserable sinner for the loue of thy Sonne IESVS CHRIST my Lord and Sauiour Rom. 9. Iohn 14. and by the merite of his death and passion may it please thee to receiue my soule Mat. 26. Psalm 36. the which I recommend into thy hands So be it A singular Prayer for a bodie greatly afflicted with sicknesse who is more likely to die then to liue With a little Catechisme made expresly to instruct the sicke and to make him by faith behold the mysterie of our redemption ECCLESIASTICVS 18. Before sicknesse take Phisicke and before iudgement examine thy selfe and in the presence of God thou shalt find propitiation NOw the Lord doth admonish vs to pray continually Mat. 26. principally when wee are touched with his correction Wherefore all such parents and faithfull friends as visite the sicke bodie ought not onely to visite and solicite the bodie Mat. 6. but also seeke after and desire the spirituall Phisicke for their soules Which ought
Iesus Christ Mat 26. Hebr. 1. by the shedding of his precious blood in the which I assure my selfe to bee sufficiently and intirely washed and purged which is the greatest good and contentment that I could euer receiue And such is my faith Mat. 10. in the which I will liue and die by the grace of the holy Ghost The Minister Seeing you haue receiued such a great good from God by the meanes of his Sonne Iesus Christ it is also fitting that you should doe his commandement for euen as he doth pardon you and maketh a remission of all your sinnes Mat. 11. likewise you must also pardon with all your heart all those that may haue offended you Mat. 15. Otherwise you shall not walke according to God The Sicke In that I haue knowne the faith of Iesus Christ to bee alone holy and perfect Mat. 19. commanding vs to loue our neighbours friends and enimies as our selues wherefore I beseech all those to whom I may haue offended Luke 23. either in thought word or deede to pardon mee with as good a heart as I forgiue all those that haue offended mee desiring to doe them pleasure and seruice as to my good Brethren and Friends The Minister Then seeing it is ordayned of God that all men must die Hebr. 9. Genes 3. we cannot resist his ordinance but wee ought alwaies to conforme our selues to his holy will Wherefore Brother you must not finde it strange if I say that to you which the good Prophet Isay said to King Ezekias speaking from the Lord Isay 38. Dispose of thy house for thou shalt die and shalt not liue This good counsell ought to stirre you vp to fit your selfe spiritually in your conscience That is first to conuert your selfe to God and to bewaile your sinnes Jsay 55. as did that good King desiring his mercy asking him forgiuenesse and saying alwaies in your heart Lord God bee propitious and mercifull vnto mee poore miserable sinner for the loue of thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Sauiour Afterward you must not forget your house and familie the which you ought so well to order and dispose of by a good will or last Testament that afterward it may bee in peace and tranquility But to make you better to vnderstand the disposing of your house you ought to giue euery man his owne without deceiuing any man You must leaue your wife your heire your children and friends in good friendship and charity to the end that after your decease 1. Iohn 2. they may haue no occasion of discord That done you must forget all the troubles and sorrowes of the world which passeth away with the lust thereof But who so doth the will of God Mat. 26. endures for euer Touching your children you ought to be only a natural father for a time but God is their spirituall Father for euer hauing them in his holy keeping and protection to conserue preserue and nourish them from all euill prouided that they will walke in his waies Moreouer seeing you are a Christian regenerated by the holy Sacrament of Baptisme you know long since that wee haue not here a permanent Citty Hebr. 13. for wee waight for a better which is euerlasting Wherefore I pray you in the name of God not to vexe your selfe with any sorrow for this world For here wee are all but strangers Psal 38. as were our Fathers When then God shall appoint that you must dislodge and goe before vs will you not conforme your selfe to his holy will and ordinance Also if hee finde it expedient for your saluation to prolong your life Isay 38. as hee did to good Ezekias will you not bee contented with what soeuer it shall please him to doe with you Yes surely for hee is Lord and Master you are but his seruant Hee is your Creator you are his creature and the workemanship of his hands By that meanes then he will dispose of you at his will vnto the which onely you ought to conforme and humble your selfe saying vnto him with all your heart LOrd God thou knowest my necessitie if it please thee to prolong my life thy will be done If also it please thee to call me vnto thee thy will be done for thy creature Lord hath no other will but thine Now Brother comfort your selfe in God whom if hee hath appointed to call you your calling shall bee happie for you must beleeue and hope with a stedfast faith that hee will cause you to rise againe in your owne bodie 1. Cor. 5. in immortalitie and glorie for to make you reigne with him in euerlasting life the which is purchased for and giuen vnto you in the vertue of the pretious bloud of our Lord and Sauiour IESVS CHRIST Reuel 1. In whose name the Lord GOD blesse and preserue you and make his face to shine vpon you and bee propitious vnto you The Lord turne his fauourable countenance towards you and maintaine you in good prosperity so be it THat done if you see the sicke body to waxe worse and to draw neare to his death as desirous to tend to his appointed end presently in his mortall agony you must not faile to repeate before him with a loude voice the Christian Comfort which is here before set downe Which doing God will giue him the grace to die well and faithfully Amen L. S. V. FINIS A TREATISE TO TAKE AWAY THE FEARE OF DEATH AND CAVSE IT TO BE DESIRED OF the faithfull man WITH A SHORT DECLARATION OF THE RESVRRECTION OF THE DEAD AND with certaine Prayers and Meditations LONDON Printed for Richard Bankeworth 1611. To the Reader FRiendly Reader the first of these Treatises being come forth of his Countrey of Aniou to be communicated to other nations at the last it fell into my hands And seeing that diuers did greatly desire it as well for the vtility as for the breuity thereof I was also willing that it should be communicated to those of our nation adding vnto it an other little Treatise of the Resurrection of the dead and some good Prayers and Meditations fitting to this matter that we might all learne betimes to die well which is the lesson which therein as learnedly as briefly is taught vs. Wherefore if I finde that my intention be agreeable I will indeauour to goe on from good to better to serue to the publike good Farewell this 21. of March 1583. A TREATISE TO TAKE AWAY THE FEARE OF DEATH AND CAVSE IT TO BE desired of the faithfull man PLATO said that the Philosophie wherein man liuing in this world should principally exercise himself is the meditation of death that is to say of her conditions fraile diseased and mortall of the diuers accidents of this humane life and of her houre so vncertaine and vnknowne to the end that considering these things hee might withdraw his affection and trust from this world that he might despise it and all
the more to thee But seeing thou knowest mee better then I know my selfe if it be thy pleasure to put me to any triall giue me necessary force patience to glorifie thee conuerting all the euill that may happen vnto mee to good and saluation And if in supporting my weaknesse thy goodnesse is pleased to aduertise mee by some light affliction cause that this thy well willing may draw mee more and more to loue and honour thee to giue thee thanks for the care which thou hast of thy poore little seruant and by that meanes to dispose me to weight for thee at my death that after it I may finde the life which thou hast purchased for me by thy death and therein with thee to haue part in ioy and rest for euer Amen An other LOrd God heauenly Father when I consider in how many sorts I haue sinned before thy face and against thy high maiesty I haue horrour in my selfe in thinking that I haue so often turned from thee Propitious and fauourable Father I detest my ingratitude seeing in what seruitude of sinne I haue bene too often precipitate selling as much as in me lay the precious liberty which thy Son had purchased for mee I condemne my folly I altogether dislike of my selfe I see nothing but death and mishap hanging ouer my head and my conscience rising for a Iudge witnesse of my iniquities But when on the other side I enter into a contemplation of thy infinite mercy the which surmoūteth all thy works and in the which if so I dare to speake thou surmountest thy selfe my soule is comforted And indeed why should I make my selfe beleeue that I cannot find grace before him that summons and so often and gently calles the sinners to repentance protesting expresly that hee desires not the death of a sinner but rather that he turne from his wickednesse and liue Moreouer thy onely Sonne hath so well assured vs that we shall finde fauour in thy sight by the sweete wordes which he himselfe hath vttered as that of the lost sheepe and of the prodigall sonne the image of whom I acknowledge my selfe to bee that I should be most vnthankfull incredulous and wicked to goe backe to be ashamed of thy presence although I am wretched seeing thou dost so stretch forth thy hand vnto mee and draw mee to thee with such a pitifull affection I haue very vildly forsaken thee O benigne Father I haue vnhappily let slip thy graces and adhering to the desires of my flesh and straying from thy obedience I haue wrapped my selfe in the base seruitude of sinne I am fallen into extreme misery I know not whither to retire vnlesse it be towards thee whom I haue abandoned Let thy mercy receiue this poore supplication whom thou hast supported during his errours I am vnworthy to lift vp mine eyes vnto thee or to call thee Father But I pray thee bow downe thine eyes to mee seeing thou wilt haue it so and that without that I am in the power of thine enemies The sight of thy face will reuiue me and bring me againe to thee Seeing I haue some displeasure in my selfe I know thou lookest vpon me that thou hast giuen mee eyes to see the danger wherein I was thou hast sought found me in death and in the world hast through thy mercy giuen mee a desire to enter into thy house I dare not desire that thou shoudest kisse and embrace mee nor that thou shouldst weepe for ioy that thou hast found thy poore seruant and slaue I do not demaund the pretious ornaments wherewith thou doest honour thy great seruants and most affectionate children It is inough for me to bee in the troope of the least of thy house amiddest the greatest sinners that haue obtained pardon of thee and that haue some shelter in thy Pallace where there are so many dwellings That euen in thy house I may bee as little as thou shalt please prouided that thou wilt auouch me thine for euer O mercifull Father I beseech thee that for the loue of thy welbeloued Sonne my onely Sauiour thou wouldest giue mee thy holy Spirit which may I purifie my heart and strengthen mee in such sort that I may alwaies dwell in thy house there to serue thee in holinesse and iustice all the daies of my life Amen Prayers WHat doe we in this world but heape sinnes vpon sinnes so that the morrow is alwaies worse then the day before and we doe not cease drawing thy indignation vpon vs But being out of this world in thy heritage we shall be altogether assured of our perfect eternall felicity the miseries of the bodies shall be abolished the vices filthinesse of the soule shall he done to nothing O heauenly Father increase our faith in vs for feare lest we should doubt of things so certaine imprint thy grace and thy loue in our hearts which may lift vs vp to thee and strengthen vs in thy feare And because thou hast lodged vs in this world there for to remaine as long as it shall please thee without declaring vnto vs the day of our departure the which thou alone knowest I doe beseech thee to take mee out of it when thou shalt know the time to hee come and then to doe me that good that I may acknowledge the same that in the meane while I may fit my selfe thereunto as thou hast appointed by thy holy name Amen An other THis bodie is the prison of the Soule yea a darke prison narrow and fearefull wee are as it were banished men in this world our life is but woe and misery to the contrary Lord it is in thy heauenly kingdome that we finde our liberty our countrey and our perfect contentment Awake our soules by thy word to the remembrance and apprehension of such a good imprint in our hearts the loue and the desire of the euerlasting good things and onely to bee wished for giue vnto our consciences some taste of that ioy wherewith the happie soules which are in heauen are filled that I may hold as doung and filth all that which the worldlings find so faire and couet so much which so obstinately they retaine and doe adore with such feruency Cause that finding taste but in thy verity and grace I may waite for calling vpon thee the day of my perfect deliuerance through IESVS CHRIST thy Sonne to whom with thee and the holy Spirit be glory euerlasting Amen Another LOrd Iesus the onely saluation of the liuing life euerlasting of the dead I submit my selfe to thy holy will whether it be thy pleasure yet to suffer my soule to bee some space within this body for to serue thee or that it please thee to take it out of prison being assured that what thou keepest cannot perish I am content with all my heart that my body returne into the earth from whence it was taken beleeuing the last resurrection which shall make it immortall incorruptible and full of
and so ample demonstrations of the goodnesse and mercy of God towards him were not a great deale more easie for him to digest then the great reproches which he gaue him for his ingratitude 1. Sam. 12. after hee had oftended him and the fearefull threats which he added thereunto to discouer and publish his sinne to cause that his house should be filled with murder with bloud that the honor of his wiues should be tamted by his owne son and neuerthelesse although that such exploits of the iustice of God were heard a burthē which was importable vnto him yet did he yeeld his shoulder vnto him and old submit himselfe altogether to his will assuring himselfe alwaies vpon his mercy of the which hee did remember himselfe alwaies in his iudgements that the charge which he should lay vpon him should not be altogether to presse him downe Abac. 3. And we haue a singular example of his patience of this humble obedience which he was resolued to render vnto God in all his aduersities when with so peaceable and so moderate a spirit he bare the great and scandalous iniuries that Semei spake vnto him at that time when for to saue himselfe from the conspiracy made by his sonne and by his people against him 2. Sam. 16. he was constrained to flie in great diligence and to abandon the Citie of Ierusalem for the principall cause which made him so soft and supple was that he did referre all the insolencie and brauery which that little mastiffe did vnto him vnto the prouidence of God which had stirred him vp to speake those iniuries vnto him to humble him and trie his patience and vertue Which was cause likewise Iob. 1. 2. that Iob after so many notable losses of all his goods and children and finally of the health of his bodie did praise God as cheerefully as he did in his abundance and when he had the scope of his desires except the regard which he had to the prouidence of God the which he did contemplate in all his miseries for 〈◊〉 them at his hands as speciall blessings and fauours which hee doth to his children yea the most deare and best beloued And it sufficeth not that wee beleeue that all our sicknesses come from God but wee must beleeue it in all the circumstances thereof as that they are great long tedious painfull languishing and sometimes incurable that by reason of their contagion they let our friendes and kindred from comming to visite and comfort vs that wee finde no remedie no more then that poore woman that had the bloodie flixe which held her twelue yeares Mat. 9. Luc. 5. Iohn 5. and the poore man who was eight and thirtie yeares bound in his bed by reason of a palsie wherewith hee was stroken in all the members of his bodie Wee must also attribute all that to God and thinke that he is equally free to dispence of the good and euill which hee drawes from his treasures vnto whom hee thinkes good and in such portion and measure as it pleaseth him without that any one can iustly complayne of him or with reason demaunde of him why hee doth so or so After that we are resolued in our minds that not only the sicknesses but also all other euils happen vnto vs by the prouidence of God and that from them we haue gathered all the comforts which may be drawne Then to comfort vs yet more we must consider who is this God that sends them vnto vs and how neare he is vnto vs for it is not such a God as are those that these foolish people worship Psal 96. and are but a thing of nothing whereto they giue themselues Psal 115. who cannot see anything with their eyes nor heare with their cares nor smell with their nose nor taste with their tongues nor speake with their mouthes nor take nor giue with their hands nor walke with their feetes who in briefe can neither doe well nor ill for they are not only mortall like vnto men and beasts but things altogether dead who haue neither sense nor vnderstanding nor mouing nor feeling nor force nor vigour But the God in whom we beleeue Act. 14. Hebr. 1. is the Creator of heauen and earth who causeth euery thing to liue and die and breathe who beares the world and all things contained therein by the only vertue of his powerfull word who with one of his fingers measures and poises the earth as with a beame Esay 40. Psal 147. who knoweth the number and names of the Starres Rom. 4. Reuel 1. who cals the things that are not as well as if they were who beares the keyes of life and death who is infinite in himselfe and all his vertues are infinite for his Goodnesse Mercy Wisedome Iustice and Vertue are so high and so great that the length thereof can be no more couered then the breadth nor the breadth then the thickenesse Now this most good and most great God is not farre from vs 1. Cor. 3. Psal 5. Psal 17. neither in presence nor in affection he is in vs as in his Temple for to sanctifie vs and round about vs for to couer vs with his fauour and to hide euery part of vs vnder the shadow of his wings He dwelleth in vs as in his house 2. Cor. 6. for to gouerne and inrich vs to furnish and adorne vs our vnderstandings and our hearts are his galleries wherein he walkes and takes his pleasure there deuising with vs by the diuine thoughts and holy affections which he hath inspired And albeit that he replenisheth heauen and earth and that the loue which he beareth to his creatures and the care which he hath of them are cause that he doth assist and accomodate them with all that is necessary for to preserue and entertayne them Neuerthelesse Psa 148. we are nearer to his heart Job 3. Ephes 6. hauing receiued of him so many fauours as to haue espoused conioyned and vnited our selues inseparably vnto him and by the meanes of this vnion to receiue vs into a participation and communalty of all his goodnesse Then euen as a woman that knowes her selfe well beloued of her husband and which doth wholly possesse him cannot feare that hee should vse to her any euill intreatment Simil. also wee ought to assure our selues that God who loueth vs infinitely cannot doe nor suffer any thing to be done vnto vs to hurt vs Rom. 5. for if as saith S. Paul when we are enimies we were reconciled vnto him by the death of his Sonne much more rather being already reconciled vnto him shall we be deliuered by his life Is there any thing more absurd then to thinke that God who is the soueraigne good can be the authour of any euill Iam. 3. doth a fountaine cast our both sweet and bitter water The Heretikes themselues as Marcion and the Manicheans for the horror which
then vnto the questions which now I shall demaund you and answere faithfully according to the vnderstanding that you haue receiued of the Lord which if you cannot by reason of the weakenesse and hinderance of your sicknesse Mat. 10. I will answere for you and it shall suffice for you to giue vs your heart and constancy of faith in the which you must liue and die Now I aske you wherefore and to what end you were created in this world Genes 2. The Sicke To know God The Minister Was it necessary for you to know God Psal 16. 17. The Sicke Yes surely for seeing hee is my soueraigne good without the knowledge of him I had beene more wretched then the brute beasts The Minister Seeing you know God you know well that hee is the mighty the wisedome and the infinite good Genes 1. Iohn 1. Luke 1. 1. Iohn 5. Genes 18. one God in three persons Father Sonne and holy Ghost It is the only God that Abraham Isaacke and Iacob worshipped in spirit and truth It is the only euerlasting God who hath created heauen and earth and all things therein The knowledge that you haue of God is it not such The Sicke Yes The Minister But such a simple knowledge of God were it able to conduct you to eternall life The Sicke Very hardly for euerlasting life Iohn 17. is to confesse and knowledge one only God and him whom hee hath sent his euerlasting Sonne our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ The Minister Wherefore is it necessary for you to know and confesse the Lord Iesus Christ The Sicke Because that I must recouer in IESVS CHRIST Rom. 5. Psal 51. Luke 24. Psal 21. Rom. 11. that which I haue lost in my selfe through the sinne of the old Adam whereunto I was conceiued and borne Therefore it hath beene needfull for my saluation that IESVS CHRIST true God and true Man hauing put on our flesh should giue me by his grace all that I had lost in Adam The Minister It is very well said That is the reason why Iesus Christ was conceiued by the holy Ghost Mat. 1. Luke 1. and borne of the Virgin Mary to purge and sanctifie you For cleane contrary to him Ephes 2. Psal 51. you were conceiued and borne in sinne and of sinnefull parents Wherefore doe you not confesse that without Iesus Christ you had remayned a wretched and miserable sinner Rom. 8. in euerlasting death The Sicke Yea certainly but I beleeue and confesse Rom. 6. that this good Iesus Christ hath reconciled me to God his Father The Minister But how did he reconcile you to God his Father Mat. 26. Heb. 7. 9. The Sicke By his Death and Passion the shedding of his most precious blood for to deliuer me out of al euerlasting paine this good Iesus Christ hath suffered vnder Pontius Pilate for me many afflictions iniuries and tribulations Act. 3. Mat. 27. It is Iesus Christ who hath beene crucified for me as accursed vpon the Crosse to deliuer mee from the euerlasting curse vnto the which Adam had bound me This my Sauiour IESVS Christ was truly buried to bury al my sinnes with him to the end they bee not imputed to me before God It is my Lord and Sauiour IESVS CHRIST Rom. 6. who descended into hell Act. 2. 1. Peter 2. suffering an extreme temporall anguish for to deliuer mee from the euerlasting The Minister All that you haue now confessed of Iesus Christ was it sufficient to saue you The Sicke No according as the holy Scriptures ought to bee accomplished in all things Isa 53. Mat. 26. For what had it profited mee that Iesus Christ was borne crucified dead buried and descended into hell for me onely without rising againe Wherefore Marke 16. 1. Cor. 15. I beleeue and confesse that my Lord my head and Sauiour Iesus Christ is risen againe from the dead to cause mee to rise againe with him as one of his little members in euerlasting life The Minister Consequently it is written that hee ascended into heauen Act. 1. being now set at the right hand of God his Father But what doth this Ascension profit you The Sicke My Lord my head and my Sauiour Iesus Christ is gone vp into heauen to make mee ascend after him Colos 3. 1. Iohn 2. Rom. 8. For where the head is there are the members also And I beleeue that being set at the right hand of God his Father hee is my Aduocate Rom. 8. Intercessor and only Mediator towards him assuring me very well that no man can hinder mee Iohn 5. seeing Iesus Christ is my Aduocate Mat. 25. and Iudge also wherefore I haue no occasion to feare his iudgement when hee shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead For I beleeue and confesse with a stedfast faith that there is no iudgement nor condemnation for those that are faithfull members in Iesus Christ Rom. 8. The Minister VVho hath giuen you the grace to know and vnderstand all these things The Sicke It is by the grace of the holy Spirit 1. John 5. one only God with the Father and the Sonne by the meanes whereof wee receiue all the goods and gifts which are offered vnto vs in Iesus Christ The Minister Seeing you haue already confessed that you are a member of Iesus Christ it followeth then that you are also incorporated in his Church the which hee hath caused you to beleeue to bee Holy Catholike and Vniuersall The Sicke I verily beleeue the holy vniuersall Church Ephes 5. washed and cleansed in the precious blood of IESVS CHRIST for the which I giue him thanks with all humility that hee hath giuen mee the grace to bee one of the small members of his Church and being baptised in his name hath caused mee to liue in the communion vnity and charity thereof hauing instructed mee with his holy word Mat. 4. 1. Cor. 11. and nourished mee with his very body made mee drinke of his precious blood in hope of eternall life The Minister Now seeing you are so well grounded vpon the liuely Rocke which is IESVS CHRIST 1. Cor. 10. in knowing your selfe aright you must acknowledge and confesse the principall good which you haue receiued of this good IESVS CHRIST The Sicke It is very reasonable For I will not bee vnthankefull to remember the goods and gifts that I haue receiued of God wherefore I confesse that I miserable sinner Psal 51. haue incessantly offended the goodnesse and iustice of God hauing transgressed his holy Commandements Luke 17. in which doing I haue deserued euerlasting death and damnation Neuerthelesse appealing to the mercy of GOD I haue asked forgiuenesse and doe beleeue and confesse without doubting any whit that full and entire remission of all my sinnes is giuen me Act. 4. Reuel 1. by the only merit of the death and passion of my Lord and Sauiour